{"id":58104,"date":"2023-01-20T15:28:54","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T21:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=58104"},"modified":"2025-11-11T11:16:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T17:16:39","slug":"did-you-see-that-pope-francis-told-catholics-not-to-convert-nonbelievers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-you-see-that-pope-francis-told-catholics-not-to-convert-nonbelievers\/","title":{"rendered":"Did you see that Pope Francis told Catholics not to convert nonbelievers?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Did you see that Pope Francis told Catholics not to convert nonbelievers?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

I’m not a fan of Roman Catholic beliefs, but I also believe that people’s positions should be accurately presented. The claim that appeared in numerous places, such as the World Net Daily, said, “Pope warns followers of Jesus not to convert nonbelievers<\/a>.” I found it suspicious because it does not match what I know about Roman Catholicism.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis’s address on January 18, 2023<\/a>, stated:<\/p>\n

“Perhaps we see those who have left the flock as adversaries or enemies. “And this person? Hasn’t he gone to the other side? She lost her faith…. They are going to hell…” and we are serene. When we meet them at school, at work, on the streets of our city, why don’t we think instead that we have a beautiful opportunity to witness to them the joy of a Father who loves them and has never forgotten them? Not to proselytize, no! But that the Word of the Father might reach them so we can walk together. To evangelize is not to proselytize. To proselytize is something pagan, it is neither religious nor evangelical. There is a good word for those who have left the flock and we have the honour and the burden of being the ones to speak that word.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Clearly, he thinks teaching the lost is necessary but his words are confusing and it revolves around his use of the word “proselytize.”<\/p>\n

The true definition of the word proselytize is: “convert or attempt to convert (someone) from one religion, belief, or opinion to another.” In Greek, the word is\u00a0proselutos<\/em> and simply means “convert.” It was used in the Old Testament to refer to foreigners who had converted to Judaism.\u00a0And the definition of evangelize is “convert or seek to convert (someone) to Christianity.” Thus, Francis’ statement “To evangelize is not to proselytize” is a contradiction and necessarily false.<\/p>\n

However, Roman Catholics have a strong tendency to redefine words and Francis has done this with the word “proselytize.” “In a relatively recent sense of the term, “proselytization” refers to using inappropriate tactics to get someone to convert, rather than allowing them to make a free choice for Christ. The inappropriate tactics can take a number of forms, including deception, coercion, emotional manipulation, threats, and even bribery.” [Jimmy Atkin, “Pope Francis on ‘Proselytism’<\/a>“, Catholic Answers<\/em>, 21 October 2013.] Notice the admission that this definition is “relatively recent.”<\/p>\n

I agree that deception, coercion, emotional manipulation, and bribery are all wrong ways to bring someone to Christ. I suspect most Christians would agree. (See Methods of Divisive Teachers<\/a>.) However, Francis is obscuring his message by incorrectly using terms.\u00a0 “Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers<\/em>” (II Timothy 2:14).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Did you see that Pope Francis told Catholics not to convert nonbelievers? Answer: I’m not a fan of Roman Catholic beliefs, but I also believe that people’s positions should be accurately presented. The claim that appeared in numerous places, such as the World Net Daily, said, “Pope warns followers of Jesus not to convert…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1599,451],"class_list":["post-58104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-roman-catholic-church","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17439,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pope-tells-christians-not-to-evangelize\/","url_meta":{"origin":58104,"position":0},"title":"Pope Tells Christians Not to Evangelize","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Source: Thomas D. Williams, PH.D., \"Pope Francis Tells Christians Not to Try to Convert Nonbelievers,\" Breitbart, 22 December 2019. Source: \"Visit to the 'Pilo Albertelli' Classic High School in Rome: Dialogue of the Holy Father Francis with the Students\", Vatican Publishing House, 20 December 2019. \"Pope Francis told Christian high\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19441,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-the-roman-catholics-early-list-of-popes-be-accurate\/","url_meta":{"origin":58104,"position":1},"title":"Could the Roman Catholic’s early list of popes be accurate?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The Catholics base their entire religion on the belief of ''Sacred Tradition'' and ''Apostolic Supremacy.'' Catholics claimed that a man named Linus was the second pope and succeeded Peter in 67 A.D. And they believe him to be the same Linus mention in II Timothy 4:21.\u00a0 They even have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15816,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-give-me-information-on-the-difference-between-catholics-and-protestants\/","url_meta":{"origin":58104,"position":2},"title":"Can you give me information on the difference between Catholics and protestants?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am a fellow brother and believer in Christ. I thank you for your handy, useful resources,\u00a0the table of when the Catholic doctrines\u00a0came to be and\u00a0the article that came with it. Upon reading the message on the home page of your church's web site, I responded in fellow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86910,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-know-about-the-prophecy-of-the-popes\/","url_meta":{"origin":58104,"position":3},"title":"What do you know about the Prophecy of the Popes?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you know about the prophecy of the popes? I don't agree with the approach the Catholics use because they've strayed far from the biblical teaching that the New Testament has for us. There has been considerable uproar about this since the passing of Pope Francis. People seem to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1828,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-jesus-start-catholicism\/","url_meta":{"origin":58104,"position":4},"title":"Why did Jesus start Catholicism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Jesus start Catholicism? Answer: The simple answer is that Jesus did not start Catholicism. Catholicism is a system of religion that gradually developed from the church started by Jesus, but Catholicism has long ago stopped resembling the original church. Jesus stated, \"And I also say to you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91952,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/mary-no-longer-called-co-redemptrix\/","url_meta":{"origin":58104,"position":5},"title":"Mary No Longer Called Co-Redemptrix","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Source: Talia Wise, \"Pope Leo Declares Jesus Alone Saved the World, Rejects Title of Mary as 'Co-Redeemer',\" CBN, 7 November 2025. \"A decree from Pope Leo's office firmly rejects the claim that Mary, Jesus' mother, helped save the world from damnation, settling a debate that has baffled the Catholic community\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}